urs fischer - wax, beds and problem paintings

29,403 articles

SHARE AND PROMOTE YOUR WORK

since 1999, home of design culture, designboom has been the world's
first online magazine. we welcome readers to submit projects. START UPLOADING

Dec 02, 2012

first image
untitled, 2011 by urs fischer
paraffin wax mixture, pigment, steel, wicks
52 3/8 x 32 1/8 x 52 in.
133.1 x 81.4 x 132 cm
image © stefan altenburger

swiss artist urs fischer harnesses the qualities of materials on the brink of falling apart or in the process of decay to conceive sculptures in a
bewildering variety of outcomes, each one exploring the concept of evolution, change and transience. fischer uses unstable substances such as melting wax,
rotting vegetables and debris to continuously realize contemporary sculptural solutions - a past project featuring a house made from
bread succinctly encompassing this practice. fischer has extended this modus operandi into his latest pieces, infusing a mordant sense of humor
with explorations into space, scale and the genres of classical art history - still lifes, portraits, nudes, landscapes, and interiors.
the surrealist works range from a series of beds that appear to buckle under the pressure of an injected force as well as 'problem paintings' -
a series of vintage publicity headshots, colored and enlarged to a monumental scale, then obstructed by silkscreened images depicting a
bolt or a banana to present a clash of representational systems. the series of wax sculptures, changing through the ramification of time and heat,
touch on the concept of impermanence through a distinctive physical poetry - a theme that is signature to fischer's work.

(L) untitled, 2011
paraffin wax mixture, pigment, steel, wicks
28 1/2 x 49 1/2 x 53 7/8 in.
72.4 x 125.8 x 136.8 cm
(R)untitled, 2011
paraffin wax mixture, pigment, steel, wicks
52 3/8 x 32 1/8 x 52 in.
133.1 x 81.4 x 132 cm
images © fulvio orsenigo

(L)'untitled', 2011
52 3/8 x 32 1/8 x 52 in.
133.1 x 81.4 x 132 cm
(R)'untitled', 2011
28 1/2 x 49 1/2 x 53 7/8 in.
72.4 x 125.8 x 136.8 cm
46 3/8 x 45 3/8 x 30 7/8 in. 117.7 x 115.1 x 78.5 cm 7
images © stefan altenburger

'kratz', 2011
cast aluminum, concrete, aluminum, epoxy, fiberglass, wire mesh, epoxy primer, polyester filler, one-component acrylic putty, urethane primer, polyester paint, acrylic polyurethane matte clearcoat
75 3/4 x 88 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches (192.4 x 224.8 x 64.8 cm)
ed. of 3
image © mats nordman

'beds' and 'problem paintings'
installation view
image © mats nordman

'problem paintings', 2012
milled aluminum panel, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, spray enamel, acrylic silkscreen medium, and acrylic paint
142 x 106 inches (360.7 x 269.2 cm)

lara db

12.02.12

urs fischer (2 articles)

name (required)

e-mail (will not be published) (required)

comments policy

tips:
- to start a new line press enter
- to create a link type www

designboom's comment policy guidelines
generally speaking, if we publish something, it's because we're genuinely interested in the subject.
we hope you'll share this interest and if you know even more about it, please share!
our goal in the discussion threads is to have good conversation and we prefer constructive opinions.
we and our readers have fun with entertaining ones
. designboom welcomes alerts about typos, incorrect names, and the like.
the correction is at the discretion of the post editor and may not happen immediately.

what if you disagree with what we or another commenter has to say?
let's hear it! but please understand that offensive, inappropriate, or just plain annoying comments may be deleted or shortened.

- please do not make racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments.
- please don't personally insult the writers or your fellow commenters.
- please avoid using offensive words, replacing a few letters with asterisks is not a valid workaround.
- please don't include your website or e-mail address in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion.
- please respect jury verdicts and do not discuss offensively on the competition results
(there is only one fist prize, and designboom usually asks renown professionals to help us to promote talent.
in addition to the awarded designs, we do feel that almost all deserve our attention, that is why we publish
the best 100-200 entries too.)

a link is allowed in comments as long as they add value in the form of information, images, humor, etc.
(links to the front page of your personal blog or website are not okay).
unwelcome links (to commercial products or services of others, offensive material etc. ) will be redacted.
and, ...
yes, spam gets banned.
no, we do not post fake comments.

LOG IN VIA

urs fischer (2 articles)

urs fischer - wax, beds and problem paintings

the artist harnesses the qualities of materials on the brink of falling apart to conceive sculptures in (read more)

urs fischer: the rape of the sabine women

urs fischer's work in venice involves wax candle sculptures. the figures will violently self-destruct (read more)

POPULAR TODAY ART

richard woods D.I.Y. exhibition

the alan cristea gallery currently showing 'D.I.Y.' a solo exhibition of works by richard woods, which >>

the office group's central london presidential office

home to martin van buren - eighth president of the USA, a series of artwork draws on the grandeur of >>

abandoned star wars film sets in the tunisian desert

constructed out of mud, cement-covered MDF and coiled aluminum a series of photographs capture the state >>

the infinite garden by meir lobaton corona + ulli heckmann

conceived as a visual paradox, the infinite garden is defined by a weightless, 5x8 meter semi-cubic >>

florentijn hofman's giant rubber duck: the aftermath

after dominating the scenery of victoria harbour just over a week ago, hong kong's resident yellow >>

29,403 articles

copyright

thank you for reading designboom.
a relevant part of what you see on designboom is produced by our in-house-team of designers and architects. © designboom 1999-2012, some rights reserved. copyright of photos belong to each photographer/creative studio/company mentioned. more info here.

readers' content submissions
readers understand that all information, data, text, sound, photographs, graphics, video, postings, messages, software, tags, advertisements or other materials (content), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such content originated. this means that readers are entirely responsible for all submitted content, which is intended to be available to the general public, that you upload, post, t ransmit or otherwise make available through designboom. we do monitor and edit the submitted content, but we do not control / verify t he content posted and, as such, we do not guarantee the accuracy or integrity of it and disclaim any and all liability in connection with readers' submissions. readers understand that we are not obligated t o pre-screen, regularly review, delete or otherwise change the content associated with the submitted content and / or DIY readers' submissions. we do, however, reserve the right to do so at any time in our sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, and to delete any content with or without notice. readers represent and warrant that they own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize designboom to use all trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to any and all member content to enable inclusion and use of the submitted content. designboom does not claim ownership rights over the submitted content. however, readers grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, transferable, royalty-free and non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display the submitted content, solely for the purpose for which such content was submitted or made available. under no circumstances will we be liable in any way for any content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available through the submission system.

external links
designboom may provide links to other websites or resources. because we have no control over such resources, readers acknowledge and agree that designboom is not responsible for the availability of such external resources, and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products or other materials on or available from such resources. readers further acknowledge and agree that designboom will not be liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such resource.

by accessing the designboom publication, readers accept, without limitation or qualification, these terms of use, copyrights and our privacy policy, which is incorporated in our publication.

PRIVACY

privacy

designboom recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of all information provided by users of our web site, subscribers to our on-line education and events, recipients of our e-mail newsletter, participants of our competitions and all of our customers. we created this policy with a fundamental respect for our users’ right to privacy and to guide our relationships with our users.

signing up
for certain selected services (such as free newsletter subscriptions, competitions, on-line education courses), users must first register. recipients of our newsletter can unsubscribe using the instructions listed at the end of the e-mail newsletter. for our services that require payment (such as certain events, products and subscriptions), we do not receive and do not collect credit card information.

during registration
we ask for contact information. newsletter subscribers are required to give only their e-mail address, participants of on-line education courses, competitions and special events are asked to give also their name, age, gender and mailing address.

designboom collects information
from our website users, subscribers and customers for internal purposes. we use this information to communicate with users and provide requested services. we also collect the data for internal (and for business affiliates) audit verification purposes. we do not sell this data to third parties.

communications with us
we have features where users can submit information to us. letters to the editor and similar submissions may be made public. requests for service, support or information may be forwarded as needed to best respond to a specific request.

with whome your information is shared
when we have co-branded, or when we join with other parties to provide specific services (such as events, competitions), we may share (provide and receive) personal information with them. other than as set forth above, we do not share personally identifiable information with other companies.

security
we use reasonable precautions to protect our users’ personal information and to store it securely. the servers on which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

NEWSLETTER

363,829 subscribers

keep upto date with recent articles and upcoming events.
to receive both newsletters please check 2 boxes.

SUBMISSIONS